Councillor Brian Coleman, who also happens to be our GLA rep is a man of unique talent. Let me share with you some of the things he's best at :-
Sending residents rude emails and getting into trouble with the Standards Committee
Running up expenses - Unrivalled at the GLA and LFEPA (sadly he won't allow Barnet to publish his)
Eating free dinners at the expense of those seeking acces to people of power and influence and those who can give him a holiday
Yet again he's got his ugly mug on the Times website. As the man who boasted he never knowingly undercharges, you'd think he'd make sure his underlings did the paperwork properly. As a result, the increases in Parking charges, of which he's so proud have been deemed illegal and the council has had to go back to square one. Read all about it in the Barnet CPZ blog, which is listed in the sidebar. Congratulations to David Attfield, leading the campaign, for this victory.
Brian Coleman is the man who ushered in the Future Shape/One Barnet/EasyCouncil/BarnetTrack era, when he organised the coup which deposed the last sensible Tory to lead the Council, Brian J. D. Salinger. For all his many faults, Salinger was a competent administrator, who was running a tight ship. Coleman decided that Salinger wasn't bonkers enough, organised a coup and put Mike Freer (now Finchley MP) in charge. Freer then launched the Future Shape / BarnetTrack program. If you read Mr Reasonables blog in the sidebar, you'll see how this project is falling apart at huge expense. We (the sane and sensible) of Barnet have now engaged the services of a forensic accountant, who will shortly get to work on the Business Case / Made up figures (delete as appropriate) which Barnet are trying to use to justify this.
I have often wondered what Barnet Council would be like today had Brian Coleman never arrived on the scene. I have no doubt it would be true blue Tory. I suspect that it might have been reasonably well run and I have no doubt at all that our Council Tax would be far lower, as sensible administrators would have kept and eye on the detail. Many local Tories now privately dispair. Barnet has achieved national acclaim as the face of the Looney right. Promenant local Tories send me links to articles detailing how much better certain Labour Councils are doing with issues such as transparancy, with an air of resigned despair. The few sensible Tory councillors privately tell me they are embarrassed to walk down the street. As someone on the left, it gives me no pleasure to be able to say with confidence that we have the worst Tory Council in the UK. We certainly have the stupidest.
I wonder whether Brian Coleman is proud of the monster he's created. My guess is he couldn't give a damn so long as the free dinners, free holidays and free taxi's keep turning up.
Sending residents rude emails and getting into trouble with the Standards Committee
Running up expenses - Unrivalled at the GLA and LFEPA (sadly he won't allow Barnet to publish his)
Eating free dinners at the expense of those seeking acces to people of power and influence and those who can give him a holiday
Yet again he's got his ugly mug on the Times website. As the man who boasted he never knowingly undercharges, you'd think he'd make sure his underlings did the paperwork properly. As a result, the increases in Parking charges, of which he's so proud have been deemed illegal and the council has had to go back to square one. Read all about it in the Barnet CPZ blog, which is listed in the sidebar. Congratulations to David Attfield, leading the campaign, for this victory.
Brian Coleman is the man who ushered in the Future Shape/One Barnet/EasyCouncil/BarnetTrack era, when he organised the coup which deposed the last sensible Tory to lead the Council, Brian J. D. Salinger. For all his many faults, Salinger was a competent administrator, who was running a tight ship. Coleman decided that Salinger wasn't bonkers enough, organised a coup and put Mike Freer (now Finchley MP) in charge. Freer then launched the Future Shape / BarnetTrack program. If you read Mr Reasonables blog in the sidebar, you'll see how this project is falling apart at huge expense. We (the sane and sensible) of Barnet have now engaged the services of a forensic accountant, who will shortly get to work on the Business Case / Made up figures (delete as appropriate) which Barnet are trying to use to justify this.
I have often wondered what Barnet Council would be like today had Brian Coleman never arrived on the scene. I have no doubt it would be true blue Tory. I suspect that it might have been reasonably well run and I have no doubt at all that our Council Tax would be far lower, as sensible administrators would have kept and eye on the detail. Many local Tories now privately dispair. Barnet has achieved national acclaim as the face of the Looney right. Promenant local Tories send me links to articles detailing how much better certain Labour Councils are doing with issues such as transparancy, with an air of resigned despair. The few sensible Tory councillors privately tell me they are embarrassed to walk down the street. As someone on the left, it gives me no pleasure to be able to say with confidence that we have the worst Tory Council in the UK. We certainly have the stupidest.
I wonder whether Brian Coleman is proud of the monster he's created. My guess is he couldn't give a damn so long as the free dinners, free holidays and free taxi's keep turning up.
1 comment:
I read your link on Mr Toad's free meals and this came to mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlK62rjQWLk
Never knowingly underfed.
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